An Examination of Significant Factors Influencing College Student Employment Cognition

Abstract

The increasingly severe employment problem of college students has become a public concern in China. The literature review suggested that college students’ employment cognition play a major role in this issue. To improve students’ employment cognition thus becomes important. The paper argued that the first step in the improvement of students’ employment cognition be knowing the key factors that might influence one’s employment cognition. Through literature review, this paper identified three key influential factors, i.e., professional training, academic satisfaction, and word-of-mouth. Empirical data were then collected to test their relationships with employment cognition. SEM analysis revealed that these factors were significantly and positively related to employment cognition. These findings provide Chinese educators and potential employers with insights on how to help college graduates broaden their job search scope and match their majors with ideal jobs. In a broad sense, these findings could significantly contribute to the wellbeing of the Chinese society.